Have you got over it yet? I'm talking, of course, about England's defeat in the FIFA World Cup. Did you at least manage to enjoy the subsequent games? Even if you didn't, you could have learnt some lessons applicable to your business.
A feature of the early parts of the competition was the poor performances of some of the so-called top teams and in particular the disastrous and embarrassing early exits of Italy and France. Even the ever-reliable Germans and the much-fancied Spanish (not to mention England's so-called "golden generation") all had their bad days, with some surprising results.
But when you look a little more closely at some of the events just how surprised should we have been? Ego-driven individuals trying to enhance their own reputations at the expense of the group, glaring examples of directionless leadership, an inability to communicate effectively, clashes that flare up due to cultural misunderstandings between team and management, the promotion of people to the first team perhaps just a little bit too early or hanging on to one or two when really they are just a little bit past their best we've seen it all. And finally there's always that old favourite: self-delusion sometimes you have to face up to the fact that you're not as good you think you are!
I was of course still talking about the football but I could equally be talking about many companies we've all worked in or many people that we've worked with.
The most comprehensive example of this was the débâcle that was the French campaign, one that kept us entertained and bewildered in equal measure. Surely a future business school classic-in-waiting, this was a definitive "case study" of what not to do regarding leadership, teamwork, team spirit and motivation.
Their performances showed no heart or spirit and were pitiful when you consider the sheer amount of money they are paid and the standards that they were expected to meet. The coach seems to be getting most of the flak but what about personal pride and collective responsibility? As clear an example as you will ever see of personal issues getting in the way of a team achieving their overall goal.
Contrast this with the performance of the early over-achievers such as New Zealand and the United States, and you can see that these teams had a collective spirit, a clear vision and a definite plan.
They pulled together as a cohesive unit and the result was that the performances they delivered consistently added up to more than the sum of their skills as individuals a clear lesson for us all.
Guy Moreton is director of recruitment practitioner MorePeople.
A feature of the early parts of the competition was the poor performances of some of the so-called top teams and in particular the disastrous and embarrassing early exits of Italy and France. Even the ever-reliable Germans and the much-fancied Spanish (not to mention England's so-called "golden generation") all had their bad days, with some surprising results.
But when you look a little more closely at some of the events just how surprised should we have been? Ego-driven individuals trying to enhance their own reputations at the expense of the group, glaring examples of directionless leadership, an inability to communicate effectively, clashes that flare up due to cultural misunderstandings between team and management, the promotion of people to the first team perhaps just a little bit too early or hanging on to one or two when really they are just a little bit past their best we've seen it all. And finally there's always that old favourite: self-delusion sometimes you have to face up to the fact that you're not as good you think you are!
I was of course still talking about the football but I could equally be talking about many companies we've all worked in or many people that we've worked with.
The most comprehensive example of this was the débâcle that was the French campaign, one that kept us entertained and bewildered in equal measure. Surely a future business school classic-in-waiting, this was a definitive "case study" of what not to do regarding leadership, teamwork, team spirit and motivation.
Their performances showed no heart or spirit and were pitiful when you consider the sheer amount of money they are paid and the standards that they were expected to meet. The coach seems to be getting most of the flak but what about personal pride and collective responsibility? As clear an example as you will ever see of personal issues getting in the way of a team achieving their overall goal.
Contrast this with the performance of the early over-achievers such as New Zealand and the United States, and you can see that these teams had a collective spirit, a clear vision and a definite plan.
They pulled together as a cohesive unit and the result was that the performances they delivered consistently added up to more than the sum of their skills as individuals a clear lesson for us all.
Guy Moreton is director of recruitment practitioner MorePeople.
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